Trust reviews travel plan and staff and visitor car parking

Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust has carried out a review of its car parking charges and introduced a small increase in charges for staff to cover some of the costs of introducing a 24/7 on site security service.

The Trust has made no changes to car parking charges for visitors, but streamlined the number of charging bands. There has also been a £1 increase a week on discounted season tickets.

Ian Robinson, Head of Facilities said: “A good 24/7 on site security service was seen by our staff as a number one priority for them and, since its introduction last summer, we have had a wide range of positive feedback from our staff, patients and visitors who appreciate the extra support and protection provided by the security team. “

“While the introduction of 24/7 onsite security has come at an additional cost of £125,000, we feel that it’s essential that any improvements in this area and the cost of developing and maintaining car parks, is not taken from funds that could be used for direct patient care. This is why we have, regrettably, had to cover these additional costs through a small rise in staff car parking charges.”

As part of its review the Trust has agreed to retain a tiered permit based system that reflects different salary bands. The increases range from an additional £2 per month for lower paid staff and £3.50p a month for higher grades. Part time staff that opt to pay monthly, have a reduced rate. Daily scratchcards will go up by 20p

While there have been no changes to daily visitor parking charges, the charging bands have been reduced from six to four bands. Visitors will continue to pay £1.60p up to 1 hour, £2.50p up to 2 hours, £4.20p up to 4 hours and £6.30 for the full 24 hours parking. Weekly season tickets have gone from £9 to £10.

Mr Robinson said: “We do look very carefully at how best to fund on-site improvements and this was a difficult decision to make. It’s also important to point out that we have not increased car parking charges for visitors since 2011 and staff since 2013.

Changes to the daily scratchcards for staff will come into effect immediately. All other changes to staff and visitor parking will take place from 1 February 2016.